One connector that may be appropriate for this application is known from EP-A-2,752,946. In this connector, during the fitting or coupling of the elements of the connector, their bodies are indexed around a longitudinal axis, in order to align each prong with a corresponding contact. Next, pins are immobilized by engagement in corresponding locking slots, withdrawal of a safety tab, and elastic return of this safety tab to the position blocking the pins in the slots. To allow a pin to penetrate the corresponding locking slot automatically, it is necessary for the locking ring to be oriented relative to the body around which is mounted to align itself with this locking pin. This is possible owing to a largely flared entry bevel of the locking slot, this bevel covering the angular travel range of the locking ring. This connector is globally satisfactory. However, the presence of the bevel increases the axial length of the locking ring, and therefore the axial length of the electric connector thus formed. Yet in some applications, it is necessary to provide an electric connector with a reduced axial bulk.
Comparable problems arise with the equipment known from DE-A-196 45 730 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,032, which lacks a locking ring movable between a forward position and a withdrawn position.